0

I have started going to the gym for one week now, but I found that, for the last three days, I am not getting proper sleep.

I am usually asleep at 11pm after I did cardio (running, ESF and cycling) from 6pm to 8:30 PM.

When I go to sleep, I wake up early around 2:30 AM. After that I cannot go back to sleep until 4 AM or 5 AM.

I cannot change the gym time at the evening, because this is the only time I can go and I want to reduce my weight.

2
  • 2
    Speak to your doctor. We can help you with fitness. We can't make you fall asleep.
    – Alec
    Feb 23, 2016 at 11:31
  • Losing weight should be done by improving the quality and healthiness of what you eat, not by doing cardio. Cardio makes you even hungrier, so the effect will be null in the end.
    – klaar
    Feb 24, 2016 at 10:36

1 Answer 1

1

The difficulty in falling asleep is because exercise raises your body temperature for two hours and you need a lower body temperature to sleep. I feel like weight lifting might produce less of this effect than cardio.

You say you work out from 6-8:30 PM. If that means "for an hour inside that time window", try to make sure you start at 6, not 8:30. If that means "I am working out for 2.5 hours continuously", you should shorten your workout. That long of a workout puts too much strain on your body and your long-term motivation. Some professional athletes work out less than that. Working out less should mean less stimulation and more time to cool down for sleep.

It won't hurt your results to exercise less, as long as you don't quit entirely. The calorie burn from exercise is not directly linked to weight loss. Typically your body just adjusts your hunger to make up for it. Exercise only helps by causing you to adopt the healthier eating patterns that reaching fitness goals requires.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.